Levee-reinforcement and process of making the same.



APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 23, 1913.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Inventor Witnesses Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVEE-REINFORCEMENT AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Application filed June 23, 1913. Serial No. 775,387.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. VVADDILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Levee-Reinforcement and Process of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification The present invention relates to improvements in reinforcements for levees and the process of making the same, one object of the present invention being the provision of a spinal reinforcement for the upper banks or-levees of a river, or other body of water, which will prevent the percolation of water through either the interstices of the mateterial of the levee or through the holes or burrows of'rodents 'or other destructive animals, the process for constructing such spinal reinforcementbeing a continuous one,

A further object of the present-invention Wisthe provision of ftxIlOVGl form of chamber or channeling forming. means,,adapted to be driven centrally .of the levee, theSame producing awedgeshaped cavity, whereby the respective driven elementscmaybe removedone at a time as the liquid concrete is poured and left in the ground." V v A still further object ,ofthe invention is the provision of various shaped wedges which will permit of the work being readily resumed after a delay, as for instance, where the material runs short or the work is shut down for repairs or over night, without disturbance to the concrete already deposited ,in place. and set, the driven wedgesin this state maintaining the concrete previously poured inproperposition-and form for coalescence.- .m H A still further objectof the, inventionis the provision of various shaped wedges which will permit of. the proper molding or formation of a concrete'receiving cavity vaccording to the general contour or running shape of the levee, so. that. variousturns either at acute, right'angles or obtuse angles may be formed. t 1 r With the foregoing and otheriobjects in view whichflwill appearas. the description proceeds, the invention resides in the com- H bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de-' scribed and claimed, it, being understood that changesin the precise embodiment of -61) the invention hereln dlsclosed can be made within, the scope of what is claimed without departlngfrom the spirit of the, invention. .v i

In the drawingsfFigure-i is a perspec- 5 .Withthepresent reinforcement properly po- .10

sitionedtherein, showing however, the concretereinforcement carried above the crown ofthe levee by the use of ordinary mold- ',boards. ,Figs. 3,, land, 5 aredetailedend .-vie.ws .-ofl,various shaped wedges and core 15 -formers-usedinconnection with the present -invention. ,-Fig.\ 6,7 is afperspective view of one of the wedge shaped-members per se.

Referring to the drawings, thenumeral 1 --designates a-lake,- reservoir, stream o1',river .80

bank, whichhas thrown thereupon the levee, ueart-hembankment ordike 2, the, same in the present. instance, as will presently appear, 'beingprovided with, a. reinforcing concrete ispine -or..wall,-A, which is formed with the 8 5 .rmaterialxof, the'bank 1 and. the embankr inputting thepresent invention into practice, ,aapluralitya ofcore forming wedges or MCZl'Il'VIDgBlGIHGIItS 3- are provided-all of suchv elements being tapered-in cross-section so as to form a slot-in theembankment 2 and bank 1 of the shape as illustrated in Fig, 2 for thereception of, the concrete or spine A,

' the samebeing of, such .alength-as to, when driven,,-extend above the upper face of the "levee ordike ,2, r where it is provided with .ian aperture to-accommodate a -pin (not shown) to permit of the ready withdrawing of the wedges. 3 whendesired,and-as will-- .presentlyappear.- H p ,r The ,wedges 3 are driven, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, andiafter a-ce'rtain number, as 1 for instance 1,0, have been driven, the first wedge is pulled upwardly and the cavity 1 formed thereby is filled with a free running -.conc-rete, preferably composed of sand, gravel and Portland cement, which may or may, notbe reinforced with steel. While lthe'conerete in thecore thus formed ispti11- 1 0 in a liquid state, the next succeeding wedge 3 is radually withdrawn, the withdrawal of the same opening the cavity first at the bottom, so that the liquid concrete previously poured in the cavity formed by the first removed wedge will flow below the end of the wedge as the same is drawn upwardly, thus automatically, under hydrostatic pressure, filling the cavity from the bottom upwardly and preventing any voids that would often occur when the material is poured from .above, and wedges intermediate of the ends of the cavity thus formed, which is often the case where the concrete used is of plastic instead of free running consistency.

In order to provide a means for properly assembling the wedges 3, the same are provided with one beveled edge (Z at the bottom, so that in driving each, will, by reason thereof, be forced into close juxtaposition with the last previously driven, and are also provided with grooves 72 and tongues 0, which coact with the adjacent wedges upon each side thereof and thus insure the proper alining of the next driven wedge downwardly in the dike or levee 2 and also provide a means to assist in the stability of the wedges when in the'position, as shown in Fig. l, which illustrates the wedges at the end of a 'days work, .when it is necessary to shut down. In this case, three wedges 3, 4 and 6 are employed, the wedge 6 being provided with its two axial edges, 5 and 9, inclined, constituting in effect a double wedge, while the wedge 4, is provided with an inclined edge 7, adapted to be disposed coextensive with the edge 5 of the wedge 6, and the wedge 3 is provided with an inclined edge 8, adapted to be disposed co-extensive with the edge 9, of the wedge 6, thus providing a means whereby, upon a resumption of the work after a delay, the wedge 6, may be first easily withdrawn, after which the wedge 4, is withdrawn, by which means the concrete in place and set is not disturbed by the violence which it would be necessary to employ, in order to withdraw, 4:, were the special shaped wedges 3, 4 and 6 not employed. Thus at the beginning of the .work, the next day, the wedge member 6 is primarily removed, thus permitting the Wedge 4 to be readily removed and the cavity formed by the wedges filled as previously stated.

During the progress of the work, the first and succeeding wedges that are withdrawn are carried and driven in the dike or levee 2 adjacent the last driven wedge, so that the act of driving is continuous, while the act of pouring the liquid concrete is also continuous, thus providing a means whereby a plurality of gangs of men may be working at the same time, one delivering and pouring the cement, one driving and the other pulling the wedges, the work being practically continuous, so that where the spinal reinforcement is placed in position upon work with the proper amount of material at hand, there is no necessity for halting the pouring of the concrete until the same is completely formed, thus making a continuous job or operation without any breaks in the walls as the single wall would be an integral concrete member from one end to the other.

As is often the case, when the levee dike has an irregular form, according to the outline of the bank ofthe stream or river, the wedge 8 must be made to accommodate the same, so that the spinal reinforcement may be disposed as near the center as possible. For this purpose, the wedges 10, 10 and 11 are provided, the wedge 10 being employed when the reinforcement is turned to the right as for instance, while the wedge 10 is employed where the reinforcement is to be turned to the left. In the form of reinforcement wedge shown in Fig. 5, the same is used where the bank turns abruptly at right angles, at which time the wedge member 11 provides a cavity for the reinforcement as a corner post.

Where the spinal reinforcement is upon the levee which is desired to have a projection therea-bove, as shown in Fig. 2, any form of mold boards for forming the upper projecting end of the same is provided, the same being applied and positioned as the wedges are withdrawn and the fluid concrete poured, or may be primarily positioned leaving suflicient space to permit of the driving and withdrawal of the wedges.

What is claimed is:

l. The herein described process of reinforcing a levee or embankment, consisting in successively driving one at a time, a plurality of interlocking core forming wedge shaped members, withdrawing the first one, filling the void formed with a free running concrete, and alternately withdrawing a core member and filling the void with a free running concrete, whereby the void below the core member during its withdrawal will be filled from the bottom upwardly with the concrete from the void previously filled, due to the hydrostatic pressure of the concrete in such void.

2. The herein described process of reinforcinga levee or embankment, consisting in successively driving a plurality of core-forming wedge-shaped members and alternately withdrawing a member, and filling the void with a free running concrete.

3. The herein described process of producing a spinal reinforcement for levees or embankments, consisting in successively driving a plurality of core-forming wedgeshaped members, alternately withdrawing one member at a time and filling the void thus formed from the top with a free running concrete, whereby each successive void is filled due to the hydrostatic pressure of the concrete from a point below the core member bein withdrawn.

4. A coreorming and retaining means for a spinal reinforcement of a levee, including a plurality of wedge-shaped interlocking driven members, and three wedgeshaped members to be driven between the freshly poured concrete and the first mentioned members, the outer members of which are provided with outer edges in parallel to each other while the inner edges are disposed to taper from the lower end to the top, the intermediate member being tapered both transversely and laterally for wedging 15 engagement with the two adjacent members.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK HUGH WADDILL.

Witnesses L. DANEY, L. KING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

